Couple's £2,000 'thank you' to Royal Berks Hospital's Buscot ward

Matron Susan Timperley with Michael and Karen Bourke and Lily-May, who is three

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A couple whose daughter was born 15 weeks early handed over £2,000 to the hospital which cared for her.

Lily-May Bourke spent 12 weeks at Royal Berkshire Hospital’s special care baby unit after she was born weighing just 1lb 12oz at 25 weeks in 2009.

In a bid to give something back, her dad Michael Bourke asked his bosses at Waitrose to put some cash towards a new incubator for Buscot Ward, which cares for premature and sick babies.

Michael and his wife Karen, both 40, visited the Reading hospital on Thursday, along with Lily-May, who is now three, to present a cheque to matron Susan Timperley.

Mr Bourke, of The Vines, Barkham, said: “It was obviously a shock when she was born so early and it was just a bit scary.

“She was so small and she was very sick.

“We didn’t really know what would happen in the long term but the ward were fantastic – they talked us through everything.

“She came out in August and was on oxygen at home for three months, but you wouldn’t know now that she was born prematurely.”

Mr Bourke, a development manager at Waitrose’s Bracknell head office, said: “It felt brilliant that we could actually do something to help the ward out. We know that they struggle from a financial point of view.

“I’m hearing that it’s going to be to pay for a transporter incubator which is fantastic news for the ward. It’s good to give something back.”

The money was donated by the Waitrose Community Investment Committee.

Hospital spokesman Joe Wise said: “This was a really generous donation and everyone in the special care baby unit is really grateful to Mr Bourke and Waitrose.

The money will be used for the benefit of babies and their families using Buscot Ward.”